Egypt Feature Story The Tomb of Tutankhamun (King Tut) by Mark Andrews

It is not the grandest tomb in Egypt, and was certainly not occupied by one of Egypt's most powerful rulers.  But in general, the population of the world know the tomb of Tutankhamen (KV 62) better than any other, because of all the royal tombs, it was found mostly intact. What was found in this tomb surely gives us pause to understand the motive behind ancient tomb robberies.  If such a vast fortune in treasure (in all, some 3,500 items were recovered) was found in this tiny tomb owned by a relatively minor king, what must have dazzled the eyes of the thieves who first entered the huge tomb of Ramesses II, or one of Egypt's other grand kings? Of course, the list of funerary equipment was very useful to Egyptologists, giving them an idea of what had been removed from other royal tombs.

Wonderful Artwork found in the Tutankhamun Tomb

A top from one of the Canopic Jar

The tomb, which lies in an area that was not normally used for royal burials in the Valley center, was apparently quickly buried deep below the surface of the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank at Luxor (ancient Thebes). It was forgotten about until Howard Carter discovered it on November 4th, 1922. Part of Howard Carter's luck was that it was not discovered earlier when, his predecessor in the Valley, Theodore Davis who was American, came within little more than a meter of finding it himself.

It is a little known fact that Howard Carter did not excavate every part of the King’s Valley, down to bedrock in his search for Tutankhamun. Having identified the area, in the centre of the Valley, most likely to produce the sort of find his patron desired; & which would indeed do so, many years before he seems to have expended much of his efforts in the search for answers to much more academic questions; such as the hunt for foundation deposits – in order to clarify which king was actually responsible for the construction of which tomb, & only went flat out in his search for Tutankhamun’s tomb, when it became apparent that his source of funds might be about to dry up.

From "Recent Excavations in the Valley of the Kings by the Amarna Royal Tombs Project" by Glen

Howard Carter was told, prior to finding the tomb, that Lord Carnarvon was withdrawing from the project, but after pleading his case, was given one more season of  excavation in order to find it.

Actually, we are told  that after having initially discovered the steps of the tomb on November 4th, Carter initially telegraphed Lord Carnarvon, who was still in England at his Hampshire estate, after which Carter refilled the stairway to await his benefactor's arrival.  Upon Lord Carnarvon's arrival on November 24th, work was resumed and by November 26th, the interior was observed for the first time since antiquity.

After its discovery, the worldwide media spectacle the discovery created along with movies about the curse of the mummies which are still produced every so often, is probably as interesting as the actual tomb itself. What many people do not realize is that it took Carter, with his attention to details, another ten years to fully explore, excavate and clear the tomb. Legend has it that Carter posted the first notice of discovery of the tomb on the bulletin board at the Old Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor.

Tutankhamen was certainly not one of the greatest of Egyptian pharaohs.  In fact, prior to the discovery of his tomb in 1922, little of his life was known.  Today, we know much more about  this king, but surprisingly little of that knowledge comes from the treasures of his tomb.  Tutankhamen died about 1325 BC, after only nine years of rule.  Apparently he died fairly suddenly, because a proper royal tomb, to our knowledge, was never prepared for this pharaoh.  Instead, the tomb of Tutankhamen is relatively small and follows a design more often found in non-royal tombs. Some scholars believe that the tomb that King Ay was eventually interred in was actually begun for Tutankhamen.

Actually, Tutankhamen's tomb is not nearly as interesting as other tombs in the Valley of the Kings.  It consists of an entrance leading to a single corridor, followed by several annexes for funerary equipment.  At a 90 degree right angle is the small burial chamber, with another annex attached leading back in the direction of the entrance.  This is not much of a tomb compared to other royal tombs, and most all of the funerary equipment will not be found here, but rather in the Egyptian Antiquities Museum in Cairo, if it is not elsewhere on exhib
Only the burial chamber received decorations.  Here, all of the walls have the same golden background.  On the west wall we find scenes depicting the apes of the first hour of the Amduat.  On the south wall the king is followed by Anubis as he appears before Hathor. Here, there is also a scene of the King being welcomed into the underworld by Hathor, Anubis and Isis.  The north wall depicts the King before Nut with the royal ka embracing Osiris.  On the same wall, we also find the scene of Ay performing the opening of the Mouth ritual before the mummy of Tutankhamun.  Finally, on the east wall, Tutankhamun's mummy is depicted being pulled on a sledge during the funeral procession.  Within the procession are two viziers to the king, and a third person who might be Horemheb.

It should be noted that this tomb was not found completely intact.  In fact, there had been at least two robberies of the tomb, perhaps soon after Tutankhamen's burial, probably by members of the tomb workers.

Tutankhamun's Gold Inner Coffin